SPAC logoWednesday, September 21, 2022 @ 7 PM

“Horse isn’t just an animal story – it’s a moving narrative about race and art.” - TIME

Saratoga Springs, NY (August 30, 2022) – Saratoga Performing Arts Center announces that its LiteraryArts@SPAC initiative will continue with “Horse: A Conversation with Geraldine Brooks & Sarah Maslin Nir” on Wednesday, September 21 at 7 p.m. in the Nancy DiCresce Room at The Pines@SPAC facility. Back by popular demand, Pulitzer Prize finalist, avid equestrian, and author of Horse Crazy Sarah Maslin Nir will return to SPAC to lead a conversation with Pulitzer Prize winner and author Geraldine Brooks about her new book, Horse, a sweeping story of spirit, obsession, and injustice across American history.

“Last year, Sarah Maslin Nir’s discussion with Joe Donahue was one of the highlights of the season. We are delighted to bring her back to lead this searching conversation with Geraldine Brooks,” says Elizabeth Sobol, President & CEO of Saratoga Performing Arts Center.Horse not only celebrates the majestic animals so beloved in our ‘horse crazy’ city, but it also, importantly, explores the intersecting themes of race, art, and injustice.”

In Horse, Brooks weaves a powerful story which unites a host of characters across several decades. Based on the remarkable true story of the record-breaking thoroughbred, Lexington, who became America’s greatest stud sire, Horse is a gripping, multi-layered novel of art and science, love and obsession, and our unfinished reckoning with racism.

Geraldine Brooks is the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel March and the international bestsellers The Secret Chord, Caleb’s Crossing, People of the Book, and Year of Wonders (recently optioned by Olivia Colman). She has also written the acclaimed nonfiction works Nine Parts of Desire and Foreign Correspondence. Brooks started out as a reporter in her hometown, Sydney, and went on to cover conflicts as a Wall Street Journal correspondent in Bosnia, Somalia, and the Middle East. Brooks lives in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts with her songs; her horses, Valentine and Screaming Hot Wings; and a dog named Bear.

“Horse: A Conversation with Geraldine Brooks & Sarah Maslin Nir” is part of SPAC’s growing LiteraryArts@SPAC initiative, which includes WAMC@SPAC events and conversations with renowned authors and poets such as Presidential Inaugural Poet Richard Blanco, journalist Chris Cox, New York Times columnist Pamela Paul, author Will Schwalbe, and food writers Matt Hranek, Naomi Duguid and Sylvie Bigar.  Additional events planned for the fall will be announced at a later date.

“Horse: A Conversation with Geraldine Brooks & Sarah Maslin Nir” is free to attend, however seating is limited. Visit spac.org or click HERE to register.

Sarah Maslin Nir

Sarah Maslin Nir is a staff reporter for The New York Times. Nir was a Finalist for the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for “Unvarnished,” her more than yearlong investigation into New York City’s nail salon industry that documented the exploitative labor practices and health issues manicurists face. Before becoming a staff reporter, Nir freelanced for eleven sections of the paper, traveling to the Alaskan wilderness in search of people who prefer to live in isolation, and to post-earthquake Haiti. She began as the New York Times’s nightlife columnist, covering 252 parties in eighteen months, and continued on to a career that has taken her from covering kidnappings by terrorists in Benin, West Africa, to wildfires in California, and everything in between. A born and raised Manhattanite, Nir earned a masters at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, and graduated from Columbia University, where she studied politics and philosophy. She is the author of Horse Crazy. She loves horses.

Saratoga Performing Arts Center

The Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC), located in the historic resort town of Saratoga Springs in upstate New York, is one of America’s most prestigious summer festivals. Its tranquil setting in a 2,400-acre park preserve surrounded by hiking trails, geysers, and natural mineral springs draws vacation crowds and arts connoisseurs each year for immersive experiences of performances by resident companies New York City Ballet, The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival, Opera Saratoga, and concerts by Live Nation. SPAC also hosts CulinaryArts@SPAC events in addition to imaginative programming such as the popular “SPAC on Stage” series and Caffè Lena @ SPAC.

SPAC is a 501c3 charitable organization. Donations and proceeds from fundraising events benefit the Center’s children’s education programs and support the vibrancy of its classical season. For more information visit spac.org.

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Press Contact:

Kristy Ventre – 518-584-9330 ext. 125

518-316-1435 (m.)

kventre@spac.org